GSA halves prospective lease at 1 WTC

The General Services Administration will likely take much less space at 1 World Trade Center than previously expected, the New York Post reported. While the U.S. agency and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey announced a prospective deal for 600,000 square feet four years ago, back when officials were desperate to kick-start the project, they are now negotiating for less than half that amount, according to information gleaned by Realty Check.

The news of GSA comes shortly after another prospective government lease, for the state Office of General Services, was revealed to be floundering at the site. The combined shrinkage of GSA’s lease along with the withdrawal of OGS will leave the Port Authority with an extra 900,000 square feet to lease.

That may not be bad news for Port Authority, the Post said. It will now be able to attract higher-paying tenants such as Conde Nast, which will be paying in the $60s a foot, rather than highly subsidized tenants such as GSA, which would have paid in the $40s a foot.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Tara Stacom declined to comment on the GSA, but said: “We’re very confident about our ability to lease this building based on what we have on the table, and to continue to diversify the tenant mix downtown.” [Post, 1st item]